Best Kids Advent Calendars

We are onto Day 4 of Blogtober, run by the lovely Hex Mum Plus One. So far I’ve talked about our story so far, how we are considering fostering to adopt, and great learning ideas for car mad kids! Today’s prompt was ‘date’ and immediately advent calendars came to mind! I know, I know – we are what feels like a long way from the big C, but actually it’s really just around the corner. We are normally last minute shoppers (which works well when your 5 year old changes his mind every 5 minutes) but the one thing we always get in place are the advent calendars. So I thought that a good post for today would be to talk about the best kids advent calendars out there on the high street!

I used to love our advent calendars when I was small. I say ‘calendars’ but for many many years we had one between us, taking it in turns each day to open the door and eat the chocolate. Fast forward 30 odd years, and things have definitely become a bit bigger with regards to advent calendars. No longer are we just buying chocolate ones, but we seem to be buying ‘toy’ ones as well.

I have to be honest and say, when the children first came home, we were determined not to be caught up in the whole hype of advent calendars. Well…that went out of the window the first time Little Sir saw the Lego ones, and the rest, as they say, is history. However, we do class the advent calendars as one of their presents when we are working out budgets, so it does work out well in the end. So, here are the best kids advent calendars as decided by the Newby Tribe!

Playmobil ‘Christmas On The Farm’

This was one of the first kids advent calendars I ever bought back when I was a Year 6 teacher. I wanted to have one in the class that all the children could enjoy, rather than a chocolate one for just one child, and this seemed to fit the bill. Even though the children were 10 and 11, they loved opening the door each day and putting together the Playmobil scene.

So when the children came home, I bought this one as a family advent calendar and the kids loved it! Not only did it introduce them to the idea of an advent calendar (they’d never had one before), but they loved the idea of having a new toy each day. Oh, and it introduced the idea of sharing too – win win in my book!

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar

Little Sir is a little obsessed with Star Wars. Scrap that, I swear he is the biggest 5 year old fan! So when we were busy shopping at the weekend and he spotted this advent calendar, we knew this would be his one for this year! Paul has recently had Lego advent calendars and they can occasionally be a little, let’s say, obscure. It can be hard to figure out what some of the days are supposed to be. However, we checked the contents of the Star Wars one and there are definitely enough ‘knowns’ to make it worth while. We figured that even the more obscure days will give Little Sir more lego to play with!

Hama Beads Advent Calendar

This one was a new one on me for this year. Last year we bought Little Miss a Lego Friends advent calendar, but similar to the Star Wars one, parts of it were a little too obscure. She isn’t really into lego and Lego Friends doesn’t appeal to her hugely, but she does like crafts! I hadn’t thought that we would be able to find her a crafty calendar until we came across this Hama Beads one. The best things is every day is a new template, complete with 5000 beads, so she can make her own decorations to hang around the house or give as presents. Perfect!

Melissa And Doug Countdown To Christmas Advent Calendar

As much as I enjoy the children opening their advent calendars each day and finding the little gift inside, part of me still yearns for the more simplistic, lasting calendars. So, I was delighted to find this lovely wooden tree by Melissa and Doug, complete with 24 magnetic baubles to put on the tree. I thought that it would be a lovely idea to have above the fireplace and we could use it as a family advent calendar (OK, let’s be honest here – I’m so going to be the one opening it!) I really like that we can use it again next year and I’m hoping that it will become one of those traditions!

Nutcracker Theatre Charm Bracelet Advent Calendar

Now, this was an advent calendar that we looked at but decided not to go with this year as Little Miss is still a little young for it. How we resisted I don’t know as I have fallen in love with it! I’ve never come across an advent calendar that looks like a music box and contains charms inside – just so precious! Part of me is tempted to buy it now and put it away for her in the future, just in case it’s no longer sold of course – but I think Paul will probably stop me. But how very very cute is it!!! I couldn’t leave it off the list of the best kids advent calendars as, in my book, I think it’s the best!

So there you have it for Day 4 of Blogtober. Tomorrow I’ll be chatting all about education and why I don’t think the traffic light behaviour system works for so many children – so do drop by to catch that if you can.

If you have any other kids advent calendars that you like, I’d love to know! Drop them in the comments below and I’ll check them all out.

Some of these i hadn’t even seen before, they look fab. This year i think I’m going to do Olivia a book advent, she loves her books, so each day she will get a new one. Like you ill count them as part of her Christmas presents. Maybe the unwrapping will also take less time on the big day.

I remember sharing the advent calendar with my siblings when I was younger, such a great memory. These are amazing advents though, and such a great idea to swap the sugar for a little toy too. You’ve given me some great ideas for my two x